1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to regulating the flux in a coil and more specifically to regulation accomplished by comparing the actual flux with the desired flux and changing the actual flux depending upon the difference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Due to the dynamic magnetic interactions involved in electromechanical devices such as impact printheads in printers, and electric motors, performance of these devices can sometimes be greatly enhanced by regulating the amount of magnetic flux in the device rather than attempting to regulate the voltage or current applied to the device. Since the amount of flux generated is an extremely non-linear function of current or voltage applied, as well as magnetic path reluctance, temperature, and saturation, regulation of simply current or voltage only produces approximations to ideal performance.
In the past, attempts at solving this problem have been made by tightly regulating voltage, current and excitation time, as well as by providing the most practical excitation profiles available to approximate the desired performance. These techniques are both expensive and offer only approximations to ideal results.